Advertising apparatus.



C. P. DEv SORIA.

Patented Aug. 31, 1909.

C. F. DE SORIA.

ADVERTISING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-23. 1907.

'Patented Aug. 31., 1909.

. `.elongatedhollow polygonal panels'eapablef ofy rotatiouaxially andhaving display mat-'i f unf-STATES. .BATENT OFFICE uanvzenrrstuefarrlinaus.

To all. whom 'it may concern; .i .-f'. ,y c

Be 1t knownthat I, CHARLES) F. DE SORIA,

,'citizemof the United States andvresident of New Xork, 1n the county ofNew Yorkfand State-of NewA York, haveinvented certain new andv usefulyImprovenients in Advertis- .ing Apparatus, of which the l'following isaspecification.`

This' invention relates to 'advertising de'-` vices,hav1ng particularreference 'to appa' ratus Awherein thematter to be displayed, suchasvpictures, printed intelligence adver# tisements and the like,isf-carried upon an endless traveling a series of panels arrangedclosely sideby side and presenting to casual inspection aA practicallyunbroken flat expanse.

The present invention aims to producean apparatus capable of being builton a large or small sealemand suitable forou't of door.

use as Well as indoor use,- and which may be renderedas "conspicuous andattractive at night as by clay. i 4 A further object is to lof theapparatus; f l

The invention contemplates the use ""of ter painted or otherwiseimpressed upon each of the several outer surfaces thereof; said surfacesbeing oftransparent or translucent material or vof opaque material,perforated i in such manner that the display matter thereon may berendered visible at night'b'y lights ylocated, on the inside .of saidhollow panels. 1 i

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a frontelevation of anapparatusembodying my invention; Fig.- 2 .is a section, enlarged on line X X ofFig. l, the, middle portion of said figure being broken out; Fig- .3is',V a detail illustrating. a meansforv sup.

portinga sprocket chain; Fig. il; isfasecton i t on line Y Y of Fig. 2,showingtwo sprocket wheels' and two panels in elevatiol'i; Fig. '5 lis ila section, still furthervenlarged online Z-Z` of Fig. 2; Fig.V a topfplanf' view of a three Vsided hollow panel Fig. 7'is atranst versesection of ...saniefand FigfS isa.I 5o

,Referringvto thel drawings bygletter, A epresents an. elongated"rectangumf body or surface built up ofy increase the capacity ysncmcaan'of rcemment. Patented Aug. 31 1909.

Application.'V tiled March 23, 1907. lSerial No'.

or casing closedvon all sides save the front, which is provided `with arectangular 'window.v a extending nearly the whole length l thereof. l'Ihave shown a glass covering A for this opening, but the glass is not atlall an essential featureiof the invention and "may be omittedwlie'n`e\-'er its use is undesirable for any reasoinor impracticablc onaccount lof the size of the apparatus.

f- B and ,C represent two verticall shafts mounted in bearings A2atopposite ends of thehousingA4 and each having two sprocket wheelsspacedapart thereon and represented by b', Y), land c, 0,'respectively-One of said shafts is connected with' the driving shaft F of a suitablemotor notshown. u I

D and D denote endless sprocket chains arranged' in superposed parallelrelation and wheels as vclearly indicated in thedrawings, there beingelongated tracks, guides or supports d, d, situated between the sprocketwheels to prevent undue sagging of said chains. These guides lorsupports are shown clearly in Figs. 3 Vand 5 but, for the sake of"clearnes's, are omittedI from Fig. 2.' The sprocket chains D'and D 'areof usual construction," but the links thereof are Jomed -together byhollow thimbles al instead of solid pins, these hollow thimblesyaffording receivingsockets-:al2 for a ypurpose which w1ll presentlyappear.4 v

`Tlie panels hereinbefore referred to are represented asa whole by theletter E. Re-

ferring particularly to Figs. f5, 6 and 7, it will be seen that thepanels comprise two similar end pieces orheads e and e of-triangularshape, 'a central. rod or back-bone efconnecting said heads together,`and three fflat side plates,g",g2.and g3 also extending froinghead-Itohead, thewhole forming a hollow polygonal4 body, which incross-section is` a perfect 'equilateral trlangle. v The side platesg,g2' andg3 are preferably detachable from the panels E as indicated byfthe,` screws fein' Figs. 4, and 5,'and are intended tof carry thematter to be displayed. lThe sideplates .ofthe panels are of such a l YKcharacter thatl thedisplaymatterM on the detail. Fig. f9'is Aa detailyypt erspective View to fj l i show the electrical connections of" thebus" `outer surfacegthereof"will be visible at night 'wheneverltheinterior of the panel-isilluminated. While' there are lvarious obyiousways of reaching this result, I have 11lusl tratedtlieside plates asmade-,of opaque ma-` connecting. corresponding pairs of sprocket thevt-liiinbles d in the less series and sa id heads.

terial and having the letters, pictures or other matter, outlined byrows of perforations m. Both of the heads-e and e of each panel areprovided with outwardly project- Ang cylindrical studs e* and inwardlyextending triangular bosses e5, the former entering links ofthe chains Dand D', and the latter serving as supports for the several banks ofelectric lamps .which I propose to employ. There are also threeequiidistantly disposed holes e1 in each of It willy-bc observed thatthe panels are arranged upon the chains in .end-

that there is no appreciable space between the corners of adjacentpanels; the panels being arranged at equal distances apart, the distancebetween the axes of the several. panels being equal to the width of oneof the sides of'a panel so that when the panels are traveling inapproximately straight paths they stand edge to edge and present asubstantially unbroken, flat surface. Power being applied to shaft B thepanels at the front of the housing will be caused to move along thewindow or opening in the housing, the lower edges of the panels movingin contact with a rail N which prevents .displacement or Huttering ofthe panels in transit. There is a similar rail N at`the rear of thehousing and curved guides n at the ends thereof. Y

R represents a detent located at one end of the apparatus and adapted toengage each panel successively as it passes and turn it on its axis sothat'another of its surfaces will be presented to view on the next tripof said panel across the front of the machine. The guide n is omittedwhere the detent R is locatd in order to ailord `room for the panels torotate.

Obviously the housing A may be provided with a window at the rear aswell as the front as indicated at A3 Fig. 2. It will also be lunderstoodthat the panels may be arranged to move along the window-in eitherdirection.4v

In order to illuminate the panels, I have provided two elongatedconductors or busbars S and S arranged inside the housing, one near theupper and the other near the lower edge of the window or opening a,each! bar, of course, being properly' connected up with a suitablesource of electric cur rent. Each side of each panel is .provided with apair of s ring pressed contacts s and erably in the heads of the' o fthecontacts are enlarged and serve to liinittlie action of the springs s?,as clearly disclosed in Fig. 5 and also atford'nieans for electricallyconnecting said contacts withA the lamps.

The lamps L maybe arranged within the panels in any. desired manner. 'Iprefer,

structure, it is clear how placed readily.

slowly, each side of every panel may bc cx- -A sign of say,

however, to employ strips L of ordinary molding, such as is commonlyused in electrical wiring, and apply a row thereto in the usual way, thefeed wires t and t for the lamps projecting from the opposite ends ofsaid molding. A bank of lamps arranged in this manner4 may be readilyapplied to the panel by simply dropping the same through one of theopenings,

ef and hanging it upon the hook e project-y ing from the boss c, therebeing an eye'c in the end of the molding for this purpose. So suspendedthe molding will lie flat against the bosses' e as shown, and require nofurther support, and the projecting wires maybe readily soldered orotherwise connected to the contacts s and s', the holes e1 aifordingaccess to these parts for this purpose.

I prefer to use three banks of lamps, one for each side of the hollowpanel, and have the several banks colored differently in order to varythe light effects. but it is obvious that fewer lamps might be foundpractical.

To facilitate repairs and the removal of side plates, lamps, etc.. oneend of the housing is hinged -to the main -body and is adapt ed to beswung out to expose the inner mechanism, and since this hinged portion Aincludes a part of the roof and lioor of the. the long banks of lampsmay be removed as a whole and re- By rotating the shaft B posed for.inspection and repair.l

It may `be desirable at times to flush the lights, which eiect isattainable by cutting oit the current from the lamps for a long or shortperiod and then cutting it in again. I have accordingly provided theclips of insulating material which may be applied to the bus-bars S andS at desired intervals. These clips may be long or-short as required andare preferably of `fibercovered metal capable of being sprun upon thebus-bars, as best indicated in iig. 8. The clips are slidable upon thebus-bars and may be adjusted to any desired position thereon by hand orotherwise.

There is a distinct advantagel in tlie use of hollowpolygonal panels.Not only on account of their adaptability` for illumination, but fortheir increased surface capacity. -thirty (30) feet running length,ifmade in accordance with my invention, may contain one hundred andeighty (18Qf)jv feet of advertisingspace, all of which may bepresented-to View in a short space of time.' i

Iprefer t6 use three sided panels for the reason thatsthey admit of anarrangement of lamps ,f

that will y.presentto view a fiatl and appar- L surface, and, moreover,would 'require to be spacedfarther apart in order to be rotated axially.

l claim: v

l. ln apparatus for displaying matter the combination of a housinghaving an elongated window or opening therein; a pair of endlessflexible carriers spaced apart and mounted in 'said housing, means :fordriving the same; said carriers being arranged to travel in a directionparallel with the extent of said window or opening; a series of hollowpolygonal panels axially supported by and between said carriers andhaving dis-A play surfaces adapted to admit of the passage of lightrays, means for axially turning each panel individually at a. desiredpoint in its travel, means for locking it against such turning at otherpoints, and means for illu,- minating the inside of'said panels.

2. ln apparatus for displaying mattei' the combination of a housinghaving an opening or window therein, a series of hollow panels arrangedin endless series within said housing and adapted to pass across saldwindow y or opening, the sides of the panels admitting of the passage oflight rays, elongated stationary 'conductors arranged along the path ofmovement of' said` panels, contacts carried by saidpanels and adapted.to d-rag against said conductors, and lamps located within said panelsand in electrical connection with said contacts. l

3. In apparatus for displaying matter, the combinationI of a housinghaving an elongated opening or window therein, a

-series of hollow three sided panels arranged in.. endless series withinsaid housing and 'adapted to pass across said opening or window; theseveral sides of each panel admit ting of the passage `of light raysthere` through'and having display matter applied thereto; elongatedconductors arranged'in the pathof travel ofsaid panels, three sets l oflamps located.v within keach panel and means'wh'ereby the several setsmay be illumlnated successively.

4. In apparatus of the character described,

a hollow panel comprising a central supporting member, two angular headscarried by opposite ends of said member, and having axial studsprojecting outwardly therefrom, flat display sides detachably 'securedto said heads and adapted to admit of the ythe combination of a housinghaving an elongated window, a series of hollow traveling panels in saidhousing, said panels having interiorly located electric lamps andexteriorly located display matter capable of being illuminated by saidlamps, an electric conductor located in the path of travel of saidpanels and current collectors carried by said panels.

6. In apparatus of the character described the combination of a housinghaving an elongated window, a` series of hollow traveling panels insaid. housing, said panels having interiorly located electric lamps andexteriorly located display matter capable of being illuminated by saidlamps, a stationary electric conductor located in the path of travel ofthe panels, current collectors carried by said panels and one or moreAcurrent interrupters applied to said conductor

